By Zac Chapman / Assistant News Director

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has updated the Invasive Carp Action Plan for the next 10 years.

The plan includes the following actions:

• Monitoring invasive carp populations
• Limiting migration in the state
• Responding appropriately if invasive carp are found in new locations
• Management and control strategies to remove fish and minimize populations
• Working and communicating with key partners and the public to minimize the state’s risk

Invasive carp have been moving upstream since escaping into the Mississippi River. These fish compete with native species, and silver carp are known to jump out of the water that may pose a risk to boaters.

The DNR is already working with partners to help manage invasive car by tagging and tracking them to better understand their movements, contracting with commercial fishing to target invasive carp and developing and testing new methods to capture invasive carp.

Invasive carp captures in Minnesota must be reported to the DNR immediately by calling 651-587-2781 or emailing invasivecarp.dnr@state.mn.us. The DNR are also asking people to take a photo and transport the carp to the nearest DNR fisheries office or make arrangements for it to be picked up by a DNR official. A permit can be requested to keep captured invasive carp for consumption or disposal. 

More information about invasive carp is available on the DNR website.